New Art Museum is Foundation Pupil’s Legacy

A new $16 million art museum being constructed on Rolleston Avenue in central Christchurch is the legacy of foundation pupil and former CHS Foundation Trust member, Susan Wakefield (née Turtle) and her late husband James.

The Ravenscar House Museum will house a collection of 110 paintings from the 19th century to the present day. The collection was started by the couple in the 1990s and the museum is being funded from the insurance proceeds of their former home in Scarborough, also known as Ravenscar House, after it was destroyed in the Canterbury earthquakes.

It was due to open in April this year but the opening has been delayed due to issues sourcing materials as a result of the COVID pandemic.